Birthday Weirdness

So, just for fun, I often check the birthdays on imdb.com.  One of the birthdays today was Bruce Gray, whose face I kinda recognized from the picture.

A quick check of his page confirms that he was Ian's dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (a.k.a. the quiet lawyer dad, not the roasting-lamb-in-the-yard dad).

However, as I page-downed my way through the page, my eye caught the usual filmed-in-Canada stuff (Outer Limits, Stargate, etc.) -- which is, incidentally, where MBFGW was filmed.

Anyway, I'm paging down, and I see Star Trek: Enterprise.

I stop.

I boggle.

Surak?

Ian's dad = Surak of Vulcan, Father of All They Now....

SURAK?

That is almost...almost...as bad as Winona Ryder playing Amanda.

Or...oh, good Lord, I can't stop looking....

Weepy Girl (Cameron?) from House playing Kirk's mom, conveniently enough named Winona Kirk?

And we've already ranted about McCoy-Leonard-McCoy.

(Why I'm stuck on him being Caesar-Julius-Caesar and not Eomer, I don't know, but there you have it.)

And, explain to me Bruce Greenwood as Chris Pike.  Chris wasn't that much older than Kirk and company....

And we're not even going to get into Zachary Quinto saying that Sylar and Spock have some things in common, 'cause he doesn't think about good or evil when he plays a character.  Dude, sociopath-emotionless so does not equal Vulcan-Passion's-Mastery.

Seriously.

However, to give credit where it's due, it's nice that Christopher Doohan gets a cameo.

Neat

Forget all the other changes for iTunes 8 -- I'm digging one simple one:

"Play Genre."

I know there were ways to do this before, but this is neat and simple.  I like it.

And, why, yes, I do have 72 albums of Celtic music.

Still Here

Just a quick post.

1.  I am still here.

2.  I am coughing up a lung at the moment, thanks to either the cough/cold that Sixth Grade Teacher JT caught or to the gunk from moving causing an allergy attack, or both.

3.  The class is still (knock on wood) doing fairly well.  Smiley was a bit grumpy today and Drama Queen (Fourth Grade Girl A) had one moment Friday, but so far, so good.

Reminder to Self

That whole "allergy-induced asthma" thing?

You experienced it first in Thousand Oaks.  In September.

It is now September.

You were in Thousand Oaks.

Next time you go to Thousand Oaks in September, take a freaking Zyrtec or bring some Primatene, okay, dummy?

Data, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

I love my iMac.  I really do.  99% of the time, it behaves flawlessly.

Tonight, however, it has refused to print and connect to the Internet at the same time (which, I presume, has something to do with a tweak to my network printer that I made last night to try to get Lore to use it to print).

It has somehow permanently hidden Final Cut, where I lost...oh, about five hours' worth of work for a video I was making.  FIVE HOURS.  I don't usually work THAT long on videos I make for the kids (this was for our Olympics paper), but I like the Olympics, and was having fun.  FIVE HOURS.

And now, it's not printing with the laser printer at all, no matter how many times I re-set the router, and I still have social studies stuff to make.

Knock on Wood

"Hey, SpooWriter," said Fourth Grade Teacher K at recess on the first day of school, "How's your class this year?"

"Knock on wood for me," I said.

"How's it going?" asked Principal SDF before our emergency staff meeting.

"Please knock on wood for me," I said.

"How's your class this year?" asked Former OT E.

"Knock on wood repeatedly for me," I said.

Sense a pattern here?

Everyone kept insisting that my four new kids -- six, really, if you count the upcoming fourth graders from Teacher M's class -- were lovely.  Teacher M's girl has some truly difficult family stuff going on, but during the 90% of the time that she's able to get past that, she does very well.

When I found out about the twins, and read their IEPs, I realized that they sounded a lot like Fourth Grade Girl A and Bart (Fourth Grade Boy P, based on his backpack).  Very good listening comprehension but poor reading skills.

But, that meant I'd have five kids -- because of PH -- that are in the same boat: I must balance teaching them basic reading and writing with providing them with the rich grade-level content they can access by listening.

Angel's brother is a total charmer.  I haven't quite worked out yet what he knows and what he doesn't -- partly because despite not being listed as having autism, he sure looks more like he has autism than a cognitive delay of some sort.

New Boy Fifth Grade A -- Angel's brother's friend -- reminds me a lot of Scissor Girl.  (Except not with the scissors.)  Even down to the ginormous puddle of glue that erupted when he had to glue something into his agenda book.  Seriously, though, he reads beautifully -- he will be getting the text-only version of News-2-You -- but his comprehension lags a fair bit behind that.  He will fit in well with Boy J next year.

Anyway, New Boy A has trouble coming up with answers to questions -- which we will have to work on, considering how much of a part of CAPA it was -- so I gave him a question with three verbal options.  He still floundered.  When I scribbled them out on a scrap of paper -- bingo -- right answer every time.

Now, as to the knocking on wood.

Let me paint a picture.

It is eight o'clock in the morning on Friday.  The third day of school.  Of 11 students, 6 are new.

I have led my line -- my LINE...not my clump or my carefully-spaced-out-to-prevent-drama straggle -- into the classroom.  They sit at their desks and take out their journals, and start working.

I get the lunch count stuff and pass it around.  The kids keep working.

I have to ask them to stop working when we take our practice spelling test -- which everybody but Angel's Brother V aced, incidentally (I gave everybody the most difficult level just to see what would happen).  So, with aides either standing away or sitting silently next to the kids, everyone takes their spelling test.

Then they work on their journals.

For...

...get ready for it...

...an hour and a half.

Now, as I had so many new kids, I made the journals deliberately long so as to have some work left over for the new kids when we worked in small groups.

But they were all working so well, I just couldn't stop them.

The ones that finished went over to the quiet/library corner, selected books and...

...get ready for it...

talked to each other about the books.

Then we take out our books (The Chocolate Touch).  One of the things we have been talking about is that it's a re-telling of an ancient myth -- namely, "King Midas and the Golden Touch," so that was actually what we were reading on Friday.

When I hand out the pages, Bart raises his hand.  "I thought we were reading about the chocolate kid?" he says, pointing to the picture of John (the main character in TCT) on the wall.

I am staggered.

Floored.

Someone actually noticed -- not only that we were reading a story with different characters, but remembers what the story was about before we've even read it.

So, I go through the story, reading it once -- which one of the Twins goes to use the restroom.  I figure, hey, that's not fair....

So when she gets back, I tell the kids that we're going to practice the listening activity we do once per chapter -- namely, listen for a key word and mark on a paper when you hear it.  Only in this case, it was, "Raise your hand when you hear 'King Midas.'"

Last year, if I had attempted the same thing, it would have gone like this....

Me:  "Okay, is everybody ready?"

Angel and The Boss say yes.

Me:  Once, long ago, . . . . (long pause) KING MIDAS . . . . (long pause) was walking in the garden.

Three kids put an X on their paper.

This time, it went like this:

Me:  "Ready?"

Kids:  (loud chorus of "yes!")

Me:  (hmmm)  "Once, long ago, King Midas -- "

Ten sets of hands raise.  Elastigirl, noticing this, raises her hands.  I exchange stunned glances with Aide T.  I did not pause nor emphasize the word at all.

This is way too good to be true, I think.  So I keep reading.  Up they go.  All of them.  Every single time.  I even read faster and faster to see what happens.  11 sets of hands go up each and every time.

I am...floored.

When we finish the chapter, I and my group of five kids who are doing the more difficult (that is, open-ended versus multiple choice) questions go back to the back table.  As is typical, the kids doing the multiple choice versions finish first.  So what do they do?

Well, Bulldozer puts his Spongebob piece on his token board and starts to draw.  The others get books from the library, sit at their desks, and read them.

Quietly.

I am...flummoxed, and running out of synonyms.

They go out to recess.  The new ones have already figured out the system and know whose day it is to ride the bike.

They come back in from recess, and we take a few minutes to hand out paper work -- since there's no wall space for lockers (aka wire mesh thingies), so the kids have been hanging their backpacks on the backs of their chairs.

Then we take out News-2-You.

Let me paint another picture.

Me:  Okay, take out this paper and put your name on it.  (I hold up a sample.)

11 papers are taken out and 11 names written.

Me:  Now, Twin G1, can you find the flag on the top of the paper?

Twin G1 points to the flag.  I decide to reinforce a concept I had taught yesterday.  Just for giggles.

Me:  Is that the flag of the United States?

9 or 10 voices chorus confidently, "No!"

Me:  (wow)  Okay, so, is our story happening in America?

Kids:  No!

Me:  (oh my frelling God they remembered)  (I decide to reinforce something I mentioned in passing Thursday.)  Now, what are America's neighbors?

Kid 1:  M...Mexico?

Me:  (oh...good Lord)  Absolutely right.  And the other one?

Kid 2:  C-C-C....

Me:  (*#*$*#*#**$*)  Caaaan.....

Kid 2:  Canada!

Me:  (What alternate universe have I stumbled into?)  Does this paper say Mexico or Canada?

Kids:  No!

Me:  So is this story close to us?

Kids:  Far away!

Me:  .....  (At this point, I figure...why not...)  Can anyone read where the story happened?

There is a moment of silence.  Then, Twin G1 raises her hand tentatively.

Twin G1:  Ch-ch...China!

Me:  (there are no words)

So, this procedure repeats through the rest of our News-2-You articles, and before I know it, it's lunch time.

As in, this group of children just sat through an hour-long group lesson.

Did I mention that two different aides took lunches in this time, and at one point, it was basically me, and an aide for Elastigirl?

Okay, so, they all go to lunch.  Before they go, I gird my philosophical loins and tell them (expecting the dismayed reaction that the announcement got last  year) that after we do a little work with the nifty new writing programs Program Specialist SBS sent (two pages from each), we will spend our Friday afternoon playing games.

(Note:  Limited googling has failed to find them, but when I do, I'll post links, in case any of y'all would like to work on writing with your kids.)

I get a chorus of cheers.

So, lunch comes and goes, and my line -- MY LINE!!! -- walks back to class.  Bulldozer makes it all the way inside without any drama whatsoever.

I hand out their writing folders.

The first program -- which I swear has apple in the name, but of course googling that comes up with writing software for Macs -- starts with some direction-following exercises.

The first page is fairly simple -- it's simply "circle the.....".  I tell the kids I will only tell them once -- so when someone misses it, their neighbors tell them.

The second page is a little more complicated.  It starts with, "Color the hat black."

As soon as I say that, there is a flurry of grabbing for the crayon buckets.  I eye the table to my left in particular, where PH and Bart are facing off over the crayon bucket.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I say, "Let me remind you that you can only earn gold tickets by being nice to your friends.  Grabbing things from each other isn't nice."

A moment later, I hear a swarm of comments along the lines of, "Here, do you need a black crayon?" and "You can have this."

So, we go through the rest of the exercises -- the last of which is "color the ball purple, pink, and orange."  The kids keep reminding each other of what they are supposed to be doing.

So, we start the first page of the other program, which focuses more on sentence structure.

I have M read the first sentence -- "The boy is walking."  After that, it says, "The boy ___ walking."  I have M read that too.

"What's missing?" I ask.

Kids:  Is!

Me:  (Oh, good Lord....)

We proceed thusly until it's time to clean up for games.  I hand out different Memory games to each table, where the kids proceed to play together, interact with each other, encourage each other, and have fun together.

I am in the Twilight Zone, I kid you not.

Now...please keep knocking on wood for me, okay?

Another Pet Peeve

Sight = seeing stuff

Because of my lousy sight, I must wear glasses.

I could hardly believe the sight that greeted me when I opened the door.

Site = a place (physical or "web...")

Sacramento will be the site of the next National Down Syndrome Congress conference.


The webmaster completed his total redesign of the site in under three weeks.


Cite = refer to

The judges cited three precedents in the text of their ruling.


If you do not cite your references, you will be accused of plagiarism.

Knock on Wood

Well, all four new kids did well today.  In fact, the whole class did very well (hence the title).  Aside from the usual disruptions from Bulldozer (one medium sized and one very minor one), the class was very responsive and interactive.  We even had discussions.

Multiple ones.

Which was good, because one of the new people hired didn't show this morning.  (Turns out her paperwork isn't completely processed, but I guess the office didn't know that.)  So, independent, well-mannered workers was a plus.

Meanwhile, and totally unrelated except that I was on a Loreena McKennitt kick while getting my classroom ready, I have realized that somehow -- despite being quite a fan of European history -- I missed the extent to which the Vikings were involved in British history.

The notion was sparked while reading Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry series (awesome books, btw).

Ironically, very soon thereafter, I something clicked while listening to Loreena McKennitt's "Bonny Portmore" (which is on an earlier album -- The Visit, I think).  As she says in Nights From the Alhambra, the song is a lament about the fact that a beautiful tree has been cut down.

"For it stood on your shores for many's the long day
Till the longboats from Antrim came to float it away."

Yeah, somehow I missed the reference to "longboats" every one of the hundreds of times I've listened to the song.  D'oh.

Yay for Anonymity

You may have noticed that there are no references here to my last name, the town or school where I teach, other teachers' names (especially last names), kids' names....

Basically, there's no identifying information.  It allows me to share some of my funnier stories, as well as some of my dramas, without fear of compromising my kids' privacy.

And, today, it allows me to make a comment regarding last spring's CAPA testing.

Apparently, most kids in our district did well.  I saw a few of my kids' scores, and they all held even from prior years (which, given how much harder the test got, is a more impressive feat than it sounds like it should be), and a couple of kids improved.  Bulldozer improved from either Below Basic or Far Below Basic to Basic.

In MATH.

CAPA was really, really hard this year.  There were things like addition problems with calculators and manipulatives, identifying two-digit numbers, graphing, and identifying parts of a cube (face, vertex, etc.).

Bulldozer is lucky to count to three.

This is actually an improvement for him, as he came to me counting to two, lost that skill when he stopped having to bring two $1 bills to buy lunch, and regained it slowly and painfully.

However.

I gave him that test.  I gave all the kids' their tests.  I talked to the other teachers who gave the test.

I have concluded that the whole thing was either curved (by state, district, school...who knows) or the threshold levels for each score were lowered from previous years.

(For the record, there is Far Below Basic, Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.  I'm fairly certain No Child Left Behind requires everyone to score proficient or advanced at some point, which means those are technically "passing" scores.)

There's just no other explanation.

I am pleased, on the one hand, and slightly boggled on the other.

However, this does not change the additions I have already added to the kids' journals heavily emphasizing certain skill sets on the CAPA.  I don't believe in teaching to the tests -- the rest of their day will be math, reading, etc., as usual -- but this daily practice should help.

Seriously.  Counts to three and scored Basic on the math section of the CAPA.  I frelling kid you not.

I will be very disappointed if The Boss, who came to me counting to three and ended the year counting to nine, scored anything less than proficient.

Also, very confused.

Happy Nerd

Okay, without getting into what filk is -- other than "music SpooWriter likes" (except that I seem to like "classic" stuff rather than current stuff) -- can I just say that this makes me happy?

(At one point, I could accurately -- as in, know the words -- sing along to all 13 minutes of the song...of course, I can't do it alone -- as in, sitting in my room and singing without "accompanying" somebody.)

Also, the fact that "The Dark is Rising" is being considered too is just icing on the cake.

And, the detail-oriented nerd in me is excited that they will probably make sure that Julia doesn't swiftly cover almost singing the regular chorus instead of the last verse chorus.

(In other words, the regular chorus is:

"I'll never wear red robes
I'll never wear a blue stone
The ruined tower stands abandoned and alone
etc."

The last chorus is:

"I'll never wear red robes
I'll never wear a blue stone
The ancient tower stands no longer quite alone
etc."

In the recording here, Julia starts to say "ruined" and switches quickly to "ancient," and it ends up sounding like "ru-ancient."

(Don't take this as criticism...if I sang a 13 minute song live to an audience, I'd get caught up in the repetitions of the chorus too and probably forget to switch it.  It'll just be nice to have it the right way.)

In short: happy nerd!

Nice Surprise

Last year, our district purchased a subscription to News-2-You, which I had been using in the classroom for a few years.  I was a little flattered, I must say, that that happened because one of the middle school teachers was introduced to the program by observing upcoming sixth graders in my classroom.

Anyway, I figured it was a one-year thing, budgets being what they are and all.

Still, for laughs, I tried to login today -- and guess what? They must have renewed it.

Nifty.  :-)

The Painting Adventure

I got to school around 9:00 this morning, got busy working, and around...oh, 10:30 or so, a painter stuck his head in and asked if it was okay that he painted the ramp.  It would take about an hour to dry.  "Yeah, that's fine," I said (though I now realize I should have asked Patrick if he'd need a restroom...oops).  So he painted. 

We got ready to go to lunch around...oh, 12:30ish.  (By the way -- Patrick *likes* to dust and volunteered to come dust everything (and I mean *everything* -- he's even doing the chairs) in exchange for Subway for lunch.  Nifty.) 

Anyway, around 12:30, I poke my head out and the paint still looks wet.  I ask a painter guy if it's okay to walk on.  "Oh, eight, ten minutes it takes to dry," he says in broken English. 

Dubiously, I kinda touched the ramp with a toe and checked my shoe.  No paint.  I have Patrick follow me, and we walk to the office. 

Only to find Sixth Grade Teacher J in the office complaining that she hasn't been able to get into her classroom all day because she got here after they painted once and then they PAINTED ANOTHER COAT.  This is confirmed by Fourth Grade Teacher K.  No more classroom for any of us.


Meanwhile, am getting twin sixth grade girls, and probably Boy B back until his surgery, because PM miscounted children.  So that takes me up to 10, plus an hour of Girl B.



And here I was hoping I was finished with the cutting and laminating for a while.


The room is looking surprisingly not-insane (though half the ceiling tiles aren't quite where they should be and there are wires hanging out of two of the walls).  Of course, half of my stuff is still in the car or piled in the center...but as difficult as it was, the move proved to be a good organization tool.

What I Learned Today

1. Someone thought it would be a good idea to start the construction and then move the dusty, grimy furniture and boxes out of our classrooms.  Yippee.
2. There are absolutely no pictures of Patrick Skene Catling, author of The Chocolate Touch, anywhere that Google can find.  Hence, a generic "man" picture in Writing With Symbols for the kids' "About the Author" section.
3. Search "King Midas," and read how many different versions of the myth there are.  It's crazy.  In one, he's a nice but rather dim king who just doesn't thing.  In another, he's a selfish dolt who just wants to be rich.  In another, he's kinda halfway in between.
4. New Boy B may or may not be coming.  If he doesn't, other kids from School GG will.  He's a vote for "the devil you know."
5. Journals are done through September 11.  No, not cause that's September 11, but because it means I have 3 weeks of journals done.  Bonus:  I figured out a way to keep them arranged so I don't have to print them again next year.
6. My portable has an actual computer center thing with extra outlets on the walls.  However, it's right next to my only option for a "quiet corner," which invites technological disaster (translation: flying electronics).  So, I have to move a few of the semi-movable but rather heavy bookcases over there in order to block the area off better.  This will entail moving boxes, though.

Meanwhile, I must go buy Clorox wipes.  Like...Costco quantities of them.

The Facts of Life

The song, I would wager, is imprinted somewhere in the backs of the minds of every child of the 80s.

You take the good, you take the bad
You take them both, and there you have
The facts of life, the facts of life

The good:

• I found laminate at K-Mart for almost half the Walmart price -- $10 for 50, versus $7.77 for 20.  Yay.
• I have finally finished cutting out all the new things for this coming year -- since we'll be moving partway through the year, the motto is "Portable, Portable, Portable."  Everything from the principal's recess chart to the lunch count is made to be picked up and carried from one room to the other.
• I finally chose our first book.
• My new desk has shelves for both printers and all my hard drives.  (Inkjet printer, laser printer, 1 TB network attached storage, 1 TB hard drive, 750 GB hard drive, 300 GB hard drive.)
• I figured out why my little desk fan wasn't working and fixed it.
• The desk is on wheels -- which will be useful come number 3 below.

The bad:

• I HATE SCISSORS AND LAMINATE AND VELCRO AND CARD STOCK AND CUTTING AND DID I MENTION THAT I HATE SCISSORS?  Hmph.
• The shelves on the desk weren't wide enough in the right places to put the printers on the shelves where I wanted them.
• The desk was about 2 inches too wide for the space it's in, which will necessitate moving of heavy things at some point.
• Did I mention that I hate scissors?
• Velcro dots are insanely hard to find unless you didn't have a brain freeze and remembered to order them from here.
• New Boy B from last year was supposed to go to School GG but they ran out of room, according to Program Specialist PM, so he might be coming to school -- maybe -- for the two weeks of school before he has brain surgery, at which point he'll be on home teaching and may -- at that point -- go to School GG but probably only if they transfer kids from School GG to my school at that point.  Eesh.
• I hate scissors.

Funny story, though.  I went back to Walmart for the third time in as many days (how is it, even with lists, I forget things?).  I tried to wake up Patrick to ask him if he still needed toilet paper, which I could get for him while I was there.

Half-conscious Patrick says, "I don't remember how to get there."

Me:  Uh.

So I try again.  He says something along the lines of, "I think I want an orange soda."

Me: Uh.

So I try one more time.  "I remember that you want an orange soda.  I'm asking if you want me to get toilet paper or if you want to wait and do your grocery shopping later?"

Patrick:  Incoherent mumbling.

Incoherent Spluttering

Okay...so...there will be Romulans in the Star Trek movie.  They made up a language.

Good for them.

But...but...the comments. Oh, the comments.

"We’re space pirates,” Collins explained. “Think of Johnny Depp as a Romulan.”

Pardon me over here while I gibber in a corner.

Are you frelling kidding me?

(Note to self:  Stop sounding like a rabid fan girl.  Thank you very much.)

Romulans aren't pirates.  They -- they -- they're an Empire, for the love of....

I can't....

Okay, seriously?

NOT PIRATES.

(Hello, self?  This is your other self.  Seriously.  Stop sounding like a raving fan girl.)

You don't have to be the cos-playing nerdy Trekkie at a convention, lugging around your well-worn copy of The Romulan Way** (see how I snuck that in?), to know that the Romulans aren't pirates.

And to invoke Johnny Depp-type pirates....

(Self?  This is your not-insane self pointing out that Battlestar Galactica is very good and Baltar isn't a weirdo sitting on a really tall chair.)

...

I must quote.  Other people's words actually make sense.  "Oh Great Bird . . . guide our Trek on its course."  (Go here and download "Born Again Trek" if you need a visual -- even though I wasn't with the "midwest crowd" and actually have only ever watched Wrath of Khan once, because of the earwigs (ewww) and Kirk watching Spock die (sniff).)

** Written by the very, very good Diane Duane, who wrote two of my other favorite 80s-ish era Trek books:  Spock's World (awesome, awesome exploration of Vulcans) and Doctor's Orders (freaking hilarious except when I felt bad for how scared Bones was).

***  Also?  While I was googling for "Born Again Trek," I found Pigs in Space!

Olympics (Gymnastics Spoilers)

Whether you watch the Olympics or not, if you get a chance to see the footage of Bela Karolyi watching Nastia Liukin's floor routine that NBC aired after the competition was over (and, I think, after the medal ceremony, but I stayed up way late to watch the whole thing)...you should.

I don't always agree with him, but you can't doubt his passion.

(Also, Bob Costas's reaction -- making a quip about journalistic objectivity after Bela grabs his arm and shakes it -- is almost -- almost -- as funny.)

ETA:  Ha!  Video here.

I normally root for the 'home' team during the Olympics (with a few exceptions, like the poor Romanian girl a couple of Olympics ago who had a cold, took Dimetapp...or possibly Sudafed...as prescribed by her doctor and was disqualified for doping), because...well, imagine how awesome it would be to win in front of a stadium packed with people pulling for you.  Especially in a group-oriented culture like China.  So I did feel bad for an obviously disappointed Yang Yilin, who tried very hard to be stoic but whose facade cracked a couple of times.

And So, It Begins

There have been several campaign ads during the Olympics the last two days.

Bleh.

This Should Not Be Funny

I made a sound like a giraffe getting run over by a train while they're both hit by a meteor.

Actor...word-smith...actor...word-smith.  He's both.

And he's really, really funny -- even though it so shouldn't be.

...Seriously? (Olympics Comment, No Spoilers)

The Greek doctor for something (not sure which; I'm at Data and not watching) is seriously, swear-to-God named Herakles.

I'm not sure whether to boggle at his parents -- I mean...seriously?  Hercules? -- or to feel bad for him...especially if he was the stereotypical weak nerdly type.

Wow...Go Me!

Turns out I took two of the required classes for CLU's level two program as an undergraduate.

Way to save a lot of money on four credits.

Cool.

Go me.

Now I just have to convince them that since I did BTSA already, I shouldn't have to take their class that is done in collaboration with BTSA....